Conventional chenille yarns are used in a variety of fabrics to produce a simulated pile on a surface of the fabric. Attempts have been made to improve the abrasion resistance and to decrease the amount of pile loss associated with chenille yarns. Early attempts to improve the abrasion resistance of chenille yarns, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,881, utilized mechanical means, such as twisting of one or more core yarns, to lock pile or effect yarns in place; however, the resulting chenille yarns had less than acceptable abrasion resistance. More recently, adhesive means have been utilized to secure pile or effect yarns to the chenille yarn core. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,009,946 and 5,651,168 disclose chenille yarns comprising one or more low-melting binder yarns in the core of the chenille yarn, which adhesively secure pile or effect yarns to the core. By incorporating one or more low-melting binder yarns in the core of the chenille yarn, and subsequently melting the binder yarn, a chenille yarn having better abrasion resistance and decreased pile loss is produced.
Although significant improvements have been made with chenille yarns, conventional chenille yarns, such as those disclosed in the above-referenced patents, still have several shortcomings. Most conventional chenille yarns can only be used on relatively low speed weaving machines, such as shuttle or Rapier looms. Attempts have been made to use conventional chenille yarns on high speed weaving machines, such as air jet and water jet weaving equipment; however, as the chenille yarn is unwound from cones, the chenille yarn has a tendency to curl, which results in weave inefficiencies such that air jet and water jet weaving is virtually impossible. It is believed that the tendency of conventional chenille yarns to curl results from a curved orientation memory in the yarn due to storage and/or heat treatment of the yarn while wound on a cone. For example, if the chenille yarn is on a cone and subjected to a heat treatment to melt a binder core yarn, the chenille yarn wants to retain the curved orientation that it has on the cone. Also, conventional chenille yarn experiences significant tuft or pile loss during the weaving process because the effect yarn is not adequately secured to the yarn core.
Other conventional chenille fabrics require post-weaving finishing processes in order to secure the pile or effect yarn to the chenille core and/or prepare the fabric for consumer use. For example, the chenille fabrics disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,168 are prepared from chenille yarns which must be heatset after weaving in order to melt a binder fiber in the core of the chenille yarns. Even with one or more finishing processes, conventional chenille fabrics must be hand washed to prevent pile loss during washing or dry cleaning. A commercially available machine washable or dry cleanable chenille fabric coming directly off of a weaving machine does not exist, especially in the area of bedding products such as blankets and quilts.
There exists a need in the art for a chenille yarn, which provides exceptional abrasion resistance and decreased pile loss, and may be used on all types of weaving equipment, including water and air jet weaving machines. There also exists a need in the art for chenille fabrics which are ready for consumer use and machine washable and dry cleanable, without the need for post-weaving finishing processes as in conventional chenille fabrics.